Late season action on the food plot.

With the holidays here, it means I get to spend some quality time with the family and friends. It also means some time away from work and much needed time in the woods! With both of my brothers in town we got to spend some time in the deer hut with the muzzleloader. The last time the 3 of us were in the same stand together was nearly a decade ago and oh how I have missed it! Just like the old days, we had a great time together. With Brandon on the muzzleloader and me running the camera, I was very excited to see how the bucks would move and if they would give much attention to the Tecomate Ultra Forage food plot. With a cut soybean field next to us, I was anxious to see which food source they would prefer.

Walking in the first day, we jumped nearly 20 deer from the area surrounding the food plot. We got settled in and in leas than an hour later all the deer were coming right back to the plot. We had nearly 50 deer move through the first night, but only a couple young bucks. Day 2 came and we were able to sneak in with out bumping a lot of deer. We quickly had the same situation as day 1, nearly 50 deer moving through but only young bucks showing up before dark. Day 3 came and the big boys were on their feet before dark. It was time to test the plot! It didn’t take long and all that summer sweat in planting the plot paid off, several bucks along with mature bucks were hitting the plot and filling their mouths with Tecomate! Brandon’s first comment was ” every buck I see comes straight to the food plot.” Not only were they coming to the plot, but they were staying in it allowing Brandon to get a good look at the bucks before taking a shot. Brandon settled his crosshairs on a great mature 10 point and let the muzzleloader bark! After the smoke settled, Brandon wasn’t able to tell if the bullet hit the mark. A quick check for blood revealed no blood! Brandon decided to back out and head for the house. Brandon, Shaun, and I returned to the farm and after several hours of searching we were not able to find the buck, nor enough sign to think the buck was fatally hit or expired. To say the least, Brandon was not a happy hunter! That was Brandon’s last day of hunting in Missouri, so now it’s time for me to pull the Elite Answer out and get settled in on the food plot. Happy holidays and New Year! Josh McMillen